Episode 8: Raising the BAAR

In this episode of the Racing Mindcast, Chris gives you step by step instructions on how to take your game to the next level and raise the BAAR for yourself and your vision. This is the process that we use without own athletes and coaching clients so I hope you enjoy.

Welcome back to another edition of the racing mindcast, the show that helps athletes slow down the mind so that they can race past their limits.

I’m Chris Hague and I am still flying solo this week. Morgan started her summer school program so she is bogged down with work but we both wanted to make sure we got a show out to you this week.

As promised this is going to be lighter than my last episode which was a bit dark I admit but it was deep and honest so I hope you got something out of it or it at least struck a chord wth you in some way.

As always, let us know your thoughts and suggestions. We really are working to grow this podcast and get more higher quality episodes out to you, so tell us what you are looking for.

Today’s show is a different from what we have done in the past. Up until now we have been more commentary and observation, but today, I wanted to give you something a bit more concrete and something you can implement in your own coaching and training

I want to talk about how you can raise the BAAR for yourself and that is spelled B-A-A-R. This is a topic that I have covered a couple times. I wrote an article over at Triswimcoach.com on it and talk about it a bit on our website, braveheartcanada.com, because I have found it that successful.

But I wanted to elaborate more on it in this podcast.

SO what is raising the BAAR? BAAR is an acronym that stands for Beliefs—Affect —Actions—Results. And it really embodies how we coach and how I like my athletes to approach their training. So let me step you though the process.

Let’s say an athlete comes to me and says. I want to win my age group at my next race. I saw awesome, let’s make it happen.

This is just one of the Results that the athlete wants so we are starting really at the end of the whole process. We are starting at the “R” of the Baar.

Obviously, if this was my athletes I would first analyze the result that he/she wanted and most likely ask for a few more results since “winning” is very much dependent upon who shows up, race conditions, everything going smoothly without any mechanicals. Its also an extrinsic (that is external goal). These are 100% fine to have but if you do not have a balance of intrinsic (internal goals) and extrinsic if definitely shows an insecurity and you are setting yourself up for failure.

SO I would also ask for results that were not tied to any externals but rather internals. I would then go into the most important part of the process the “why.” Why does this athlete want that external goal? This takes a bit of digging on my part and the athlete’s part but once you get to it and strikes it, it makes the whole journey that much easier. This process of asking the “why” and linking that to the results, creates a powerful drive and vision that will come into play later on in the process.

So once we have the “why” and the subsequent results in place we can return to raising the BAAR.

The second A—because we are working backwards here—stands for Actions. What actions are we—both coach and athlete–going to take to get to the results that the athlete wants? This could be training more (or less), training differently, nutrition, etc. I think it is important to focus on positives and affirmations here rather than negatives and negations. You will get better results when you say I will add in and focus on adding in X,Y, Z instead of I am not going to….

The why also comes into play here. If the why is absent in the action step then you are not going to want to do what it takes. It is going to feel imposed similar or like a chore similar to how a kid feels when given math homework. I want to get that A but why do I have to do all these stupid problems?

We are only half way done here and this is where a lot of coaches mess up or neglect. With a concrete list of actions that will lead to the results that you want, you need to figure out the “AFFECT” thats the first A that will lead to those actions

Affect is just a fancy word for emotions—but you need to ask yourself what emotions or affect will lead to those actions. This goes beyond the basic emotions of “sad, happy, mad, angry, etc.” There are emotions like “beast mode” “invigorated” “focused” “determined” “healthful” “peaceful” all of these prime your mind for creating the actions and can be harnessed by you to do the actions that you want. For example, let’s say you have a workout in the afternoon, you have been working all day, really stressful day at work, and you don’t want to get that workout in. Your affects right now are “I feel tired” “I feel stressed” By focusing on those emotions you are making it harder for you to work out. So instead what emotions can you foster that will lead to those actions. You could turn on some T Pain to inspire you, or some DMX to get your blood pumping and by boosting those emotions or affect you can achieve the actions that you want.

Same thing with eating, let’s say one of the action items that you want is to eat a serving of fruit. If you come home stressed, anxious, angry, and frustrated you are more likely to overeat, not eat fruit, and mindlessly eat. So take a moment breath, allow the emotions of peace and mindfulness to arise and in doing so let that affect lead to better actions. But behind these affects there are beliefs—the word that the “B” stands for.

Beliefs start this whole process of getting to your results. It’s cliche but to achieve you must believe and that is why the B is the start of the whole process. If you believe something to be true then a certain affect will arise, which will lead to actions, which will lead to results. If you believe you are slow, then your emotions and actions will reflect. Change that belief and you will change.

Overall, this process can be repeated many times. You can do it on a micro level and focus on one singular result, the action, affect and the belief or on bigger macro cycles of season or 5 year plans.